I adore face scrubs. Before I was in the know about skincare and the do's and don'ts (Okay, before I started reading blogs and watching YT), I used to scrub at my skin every night trying to shrink my pores and even out my complexion. Shockingly, it just made my skin a little dry and sensitive. Go figure. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect cleanser but I have a pretty good idea on what products work with my skin. I recently received the Dr Botanicals Coffee Superfood Renewing Facial Exfoliator for review and I'll be honest, I was a tad sceptical. Despite having only heard good things about the brand prior to this, I've never really tried a product that I hadn't openly searched for before. Was there a spot in my routine for a new scrub? The answer is yes.

The festive season is just around the corner and I think a good portion of us are putting off the dreaded online hunt for unique gifts that we can give to our loved ones. Basic candles and chocolates? Nah, you want to give something that carries more sentiment and most importantly, something that's unique. But where to buy these magical things? I present to you.. uncommongoods.com .

Uncommongoods is an online store that offers an array of goods that will make you the most popular gift giver of the Holidays. From Beer Brewing Journals /£21, Literary Writing Gloves /£20, to Lab Cocktail Sets /£34 and Travel Stub Diaries /£9. Yup, they have it all. Have a browse of their entire Christmas gift selection and be instantly floored by the endless options.

Since I was 16 years old and officially got my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, I knew that getting a placement in the pain clinic was on the cards for me. It was mentioned at every appointment and we constantly hoped the waiting list would hurry up. Nevertheless, when I received the appointment letter through the post I resembled any startled cat GIF on the Internet. I was absolutely terrified as I didn't know what the expect. I don't do well with mysteries. I'm a girl of facts and I like to know exactly what is going on around me. (Maybe I'm a little bit of a control freak. But let's keep that between us, okay?) I'll be honest, I was so anxious about the unknown that I almost backed out of going. How silly is that? My own worries were trying to get in the way of my health. Turns out, I was stressed about nothing. If you're like me, I'd like to give you piece of mind by going through the steps with you so you know what to expect on the first day of class.

Tanya Burr recently had a promotional code ("tanyaburr") for a free Rituals Yogi Flow Foaming Shower Gel, you just had to pay the £2.99 p&p. Not too shabby for a product that usually retails for £8.50. But I won't lie, it did take me a few minutes of pondering before putting in the order as I've never really entertained the idea of splurging on a shower gel. I'm usually the kind of girl that just grabs whatever is on offer when I do the weekly grocery shop. But as someone who struggles to relax (and who needs some extra content) I decided to take the plunge and test it out to review.

As you have probably guessed from the title, this is my 100th post on RootingBranches. I'd lie and do the classic "what a trek it's been to get to this very moment" but, well, I only noticed my post count earlier today and am now flooded with both excitement and fear over how quickly the time has gone. It doesn't feel two minutes ago that I was writing up my first ever post "Germany Part 1: The One With All The Food " and squealing out of fear when I hit the publish button. Yeah, not much has changed.

I wanted to do a giveaway for this post as I have recently reached 1,000 followers on both Twitter and Instagram, though who knows how long the latter will last? (I see you mass unfollowers!). Regrettably not everything has come in the mail yet and I don't fully know how to go about it. Should I run the giveaway on social media? If so, which? Help would be appreciated. That should be up and running within the next week, but for now you'll have to settle on a sappy post written by a girl reminiscing about what she has gained from opening up her heart online.


When I first started this blog, I was 19 and lacking in seeing much of the world. I didn't ever envision myself travelling abroad or doing anything that resembled independence. But alas, I have come far and being able to document my journey on here has been lovely. From covering the last leg of my first ever trip abroad in Germany Part II: The Tourist Edition, to Glamping In Loch Ness, Edinburgh: Ghost Tours, National Museum Of Scotland and Serrano Manchego, Japan Town in San Francisco, my personal favourite Solvang, and the most recent return to Edinburgh with my mother. Though I merely did an Edinburgh Photo Diary for that one.

Speaking of photo diaries, this blog has given me the opportunity to explore so many of  my interests. Photography for a start, which I have mainly shared in A Drop In The Ocean, Glass Windows Of This World, and River Deep, Mountain High. My monthly series A Photo Per Day is also great for urging me to take more snapshots of my daily life. Writing is also a huge passion of mine (whaaaaaat? The blogger likes to write? Mind blowing) which I shared in both short stories that I uploaded Starhill and The Robin. And from stories we go to books, I really like books. And boy, do I show it with a wide range of hauls, reviews, wrap-ups and advice on where to get them. Search the entire category log HERE.

But most importantly, this blog has been an outlet for me to write about things that would otherwise be too difficult to bring up in everyday conversation. It's offered my thoughts an escape without the repercussions of reality, if that makes any sort of sense. Arguably You're My Sunshine has been the hardest one I have written and I still can't find the courage to reread it. Seeing as it was my first personal post, I think it did set the right tone for my overall blog. I started out heavy and didn't want to look back. Of course there are many types of personal. Take for example, the post I dedicated to my mother on Mother's Day To The Lorelai To My Rory, which is more of a happy personal. On a mere informative personal, I have Finding Myself With Online Roleplay.

To go alongside those, I have written many posts dedicated to health, both physical and mental. As a sufferer of Fibromyalgia I have covered the basis of my experience having it in Fibromyalgia And Me as well as advice on 5 Things Not To Say To Someone With A Chronic Illness. When it comes to discussing mental health, I've been more than an open book. In fact, it's as though I've ripped all the pages out and spread them across my blog for people to read. My post Living With Body Dysmorphia led me to the team at #MentalMovement and gave me to opportunity to write for them - both online and in their published work, which was beyond exciting. Since then, I've started my Bath Musings series, which acts as an online journal thing for my bad days. Most recently I uploaded a post covering my ongoing struggle with Social Media Anxiety.

Any regular readers that I have (Hi! Can we be friends?) will of seen building of my and @BilliamSWN's relationship. Our first trip together was documented in the Edinburgh/Loch Ness posts linked above, we discussed everything surrounding his podcast in Interview With A Podcaster and we announced our engagement in Life Update: I'm Engaged! We're actually thinking of starting up a blog together next year, so keep an eye out for that.

There have been so many other highlights from writing these past 100 posts, which really puts into perspective how important this blog is to me. How will I feel after 500? We'll see. After taking part in Blogtober, I do really want to keep a better schedule going with uploading. Sometimes we don't realise that we have something to say until you're forced into writing it, ya know?

So, yeah, here's to the next 100 posts and the soon-to-be giveaway. Whoop, whoop.

We're all afraid or a little cautious about something that others may deem as silly. I'm somewhat lucky in the way of not having a crippling fear (at least nothing that I've discovered yet) that can affect my life in any way. My mother is petrified of clowns and will get to the brink of tears if we stumble across a photo of one, even the word makes her visible shudder. She also has a fear of birds, but in an entirely different way. She can walk on the same pavement as a pigeon - granted, she's pushing me between her and the creature but A for effort, but if you even suggested the possibility of her walking anywhere near a clown, she'd downright refuse. Or have a meltdown. So I guess you can say I have some "bird fears" of my own, minor things that affect me but in a non-crippling way. Only mine can be a little.. eccentric.

Cats are my jam. Ask anyone and they'll agree that I'm the stereotypical crazy cat lady. I once cried over how cute my cat was but I'll put that down to hormones and not me losing my marbles.. or is it, hairballs? Heh. Ha. Okay, I'll stop. As you can imagine, when I heard that Card Factory were doing a kitty range I was ecstatic.  I've always had a soft spot for their gift ranges, and am known to ogle them online. But this time, I want to go to the store to ogle and touch. Everything is extremely cute. I had to do a blog post about them as I think people may not easily stumble across the cat goodness, and you won't find a more perfect range of gifts for Christmas time (which is fast approaching). Better yet, everything is affordable and starting at a mere £1.49. My personal favourites are the wine glass, notebooks, and beaker cup. Majorly helps that the kitty taking the spotlight looks semi similar to my own little rascal, so I'll have Mama's guilt if I don't pick everything up. 

When I was over in the States, me and my partner (the dashingly handsome @BilliamSWN) picked up the hobby of Library hopping to check out their book sales. Now, sounds lame.. I'm aware of that. But it was both romantic and darn fun, if I do say so myself. If you're a book lover you'll know the rush that you get when you find a book you've been looking for on sale. It's great, so why not get that feeling multiple times a day? The only down point of our newfound hobby was the dreary realisation that I would have to part with our many, many, many finds for who knows how many months (Engagement visa issues). It took me a long darn while to decide which ones would be returning home with me, but after some pro-con lists, realistic thinking, Popsugar reading challenge consideration, NaNoWriMo, and weight allowance.. I settled on a modest fifteen paperbacks and one hardback. No bad going, aye? I may of had to leave half of my wardrobe there, but who really needs Summery clothes in Wales?